Turkey wants your under the mattress gold

CoinCrazyPA

As Turkey battles inflation at nearly 50% and a very weak lira, the government wants to encourage citizens to convert their "under the mattress" gold worth billions of dollars into lira-denominated bank accounts.

This plan aims to strengthen the lira by depositing 5,000 tons of "under the mattress" gold into the banking system.

Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati explained: "With this package, we will put under-the-mattress gold, which is estimated at around 5,000 tons, into the [banking] system. It is equivalent to about $250-$350 billion. A certain part of that amount will support the Central Bank's foreign currency needs," Nebati said at a press conference in London on February 8.

"Under the mattress" gold is a term used to describe the yellow metal stored by citizens at their homes as an insurance policy against rising prices and currency devaluation.

Nebati added that 30,000 gold shops and five gold refineries would potentially help with the logistics. More details of the government's plan to covert private gold holdings into lira bank accounts are expected to be announced within days.

"The most important point is that another instrument to encourage Turkish lira savings has been prepared as an essential aspect of our model," Nebati stated.

The announcement was made during Nebati's first official trip abroad at comes just after Turkey's latest inflation data from January, which showed price pressures soaring to fresh 20-year highs at an annual pace of 48.7%.

The Turkish lira has not been holding up well in light of red-hot inflation numbers. Last year, the country's currency tumbled 44% against the U.S. dollar.

1630Boston

Interesting, thanks

TwoSides2aCoin

Deja vu of 1933 in America.

tincup

@TwoSides2aCoin said:
Deja vu of 1933 in America.

Agree with the deja vu. If the 'voluntary' program of gold conversion does not take place... I wonder what their next step will be.....

ricko

Under the mattress is the first place residential burglars check.... I know, it is just a 'term'... but many people actually DO store valuables under their mattress. Cheers, RickO

JimTyler

Put some replica gold under your mattress when the crooks find it they start to drool and run out, they cut the fat calf.

doubleeagle07

I got some Turkish gold if they want it or anyone here does, lol

dcarr

A panic move like that from the government will probably make people LESS willing to turn in gold than they otherwise would have.

Without a significant incentive in place for people to turn in their gold, the plan will flop miserably, of course.

blitzdude

Thanks but no thanks. RGDS!

johnny9434

if they can find any gold they can have it

asheland

I’ll keep my gold, thanks anyway.

Weiss

Just a taste of the gold that will never, ever, be turned over to the Erdoğan administration.

Turkey (Ottoman)100 Kurush 1327/9 AH (1909) KM# 754
.917 pure (22k)
7.216 g (AGW .2127 troy oz)
Shown resting on a 1910 Egypt (Ottoman) 20 Qirsh

BLUEJAYWAY

Will they issue a 1099?

1630Boston

Interesting, thanks

LukeMarshall

@Weiss Cool

PerryHall

@Weiss said:
Just a taste of the gold that will never, ever, be turned over to the Erdoğan administration.

Turkey (Ottoman)100 Kurush 1327/9 AH (1909) KM# 754
.917 pure (22k)
7.216 g (AGW .2127 troy oz)
Shown resting on a 1910 Egypt (Ottoman) 20 Qirsh

@Weiss Very cool coins. Does anyone know the background or meaning of the squiggle mark on the Arabic coins? I read somewhere that Mohamad was illiterate and when he once signed a proclamation or document, he dipped three fingers in ink and then moved those fingers around on the document to sign it. Anyone ever hear this story?

TomB

I believe that is the signature of Sultan Abdul Hamid written in calligraphy.

Weiss

@PerryHall said:

@Weiss Very cool coins. Does anyone know the background or meaning of the squiggle mark on the Arabic coins? I read somewhere that Mohamad was illiterate and when he once signed a proclamation or document, he dipped three fingers in ink and then moved those fingers around on the document to sign it. Anyone ever hear this story?

That mark is called a "tughra". It's a stylized monogram of a ruler:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tughra#:~:text=A tughra (Ottoman Turkish: طغرا,coins minted during his reign.

Islam is based on the other monotheistic / Abrahamic religions which preceded it: Judaism and Christianity. Muslims revere Moses (who they call Musa) and are particularly sensitive to avoiding graven images and false idols. They believe depicting people in art, including gold and silver coins, is a direct violation of this commandment. That's why you almost never see images of people in Islamic art. Instead, you see a thousand years of perfecting calligraphy.

Interestingly, many modern Islamic countries feature images of their religious and political leaders on their currency.

PerryHall

Thanks. I always learn at least one new thing every day on these forums.